St. John’s Edges North Texas, 53-52, in Charleston Classic Opener

Thursday, November 16

Charleston, S.C. (TD Arena)

1:30 p.m.

St. John's University

2-1,0-0Big East

North Texas

2-1,0-0AAC

St. John's (NY)

North Texas

St. John’s Edges North Texas, 53-52, in Charleston Classic Opener

11/16/2023 6:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Red Storm men’s basketball team advances to semifinals and will face Dayton on Friday at 2 p.m. on ESPN2

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The St. John's men's basketball team grinded out a 53-52 victory over North Texas (2-1) in the opening round of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic on Thursday at TD Arena. With the victory, the Red Storm advances to the semifinals and will face Dayton on Friday at 2 p.m. airing on ESPN2.

Senior center Joel Soriano helped lead St. John's (2-1) past the Mean Green by recording his second double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) of the season. He scored nine of his 11 points in the second half and set a career-high with five blocks in 33 minutes of action.

Red Storm graduate student Daniss Jenkins registered his 1,000^th career point in the victory over the reigning NIT champions. The 6-foot-5 guard from Dallas finished with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Jenkins led the Red Storm out of the gate against one of the top defensive teams in the nation. He scored nine of the team's first 17 points, including a floater with 12:44 remaining to put the Johnnies up 10, 17-7, and go over the 1,000-point threshold for his Division I career.

St. John's built its lead as large as 14 with 2:20 to go in the opening half. Consecutive layups by Drissa Traore and Zuby Ejiofor put the Johnnies on top 30-16.

The Red Storm maintained a double-digit advantage, 30-20, at the break thanks in part to its stout defensive effort. North Texas shot just 27.6 percent (8-29 FG) from the field and 18.2 percent (2-11 3FG) from 3-point territory in the opening 20 minutes. It was also the first time St. John's held an opponent to 20 points or fewer in a half in over two years.

North Texas chipped away at the 10-point halftime deficit and eventually evened the score at 34-34 with 13:19 left in regulation. After a Soriano bucket on the interior that gave the Red Storm an eight-point cushion, the Mean Green answered with the next eight points beginning with a 3-pointer from Aaron Scott and the next five from Jason Edwards.

Scott was North Texas' high scorer with 13 points and Edwards added nine.

The Johnnies locked in defensively holding North Texas without a field goal for nearly five minutes before unleashing a 10-0 run in just 61 seconds to take a 49-38 advantage at the 6:02 mark. Jenkins bookended the run with a three-point play and a jumper. Soriano had an impressive sequence on both ends of the floor which began with blocked shot and defensive rebound before burying a 3-pointer.

However, North Texas responded with a 14-2 stretch of its own to claim its first lead of the game, 52-51, with 2:00 to play. From there, both teams held each other without a field goal the rest of the way.

With 1:11 left on the clock, Soriano put St. John's ahead for good by drawing a foul after pulling down an offensive board and sank both free-throws.

After a St. John's turnover, North Texas held on for its final shot attempt with 10.9 seconds, but Scott's jumper was off the mark and Soriano corralled the defensive board to seal the victory.